e seeds that are sprung up now in race troubles and discord. The
North was first to see the danger, and gave the warning; but we blindly
plunged into four years of bitter strife, to maintain what we thought
was our right. The troubles through which we are passing are the reaping
of the fruits of the sowing of our fathers. The conduct of our people on
the 10th of November shows plainly to my mind that we are making the
same mistakes. We are foolish enough to sow that which will cause the
harvester to curse us in his misery. Here were boys not over twelve
years of age armed and licensed to insult women, tear their clothes from
them and humiliate them." "Humiliate them!" echoed Mrs. Bruce, with a
sneer, "as though such creatures could be humiliated. They are entitled
to no respect from white men." "And we should not allow ourselves to
think of them as women with the same feelings and propensities that we
have," said Mrs. Engel. "I say," continued Mrs. McLane, "that the Negro
woman should be considered a woman in the fullest sense of the term, and
those men and boys who in their zeal to protect white women humiliated
and disgraced black ones, insulted and humbled their own mothers,
sisters and sweethearts; for what disgraces one woman disgraces another,
be she white, black, red or brown. We, the white people of the South,
have acknowledged the black woman's right to all the sympathy that we
ourselves may expect. She has carried us in her arms and suckled us at
her breast, and in thousands of instances her word has been the only law
among our children in our nurseries. She heard and faithfully kept the
secrets of our lives. We sought her advice, and believed in the efficacy
of her prayers." "Now, Marjorie, you know," said Mrs. Bruce, "that such
Negro women are still dear to us; these old mammies and uncles who know
and keep in their places are never troubled in the South. The Yankee did
us a great injury by lifting the Negro out of his place, and making him
feel that he is as good as we are. It is this new Nigger that is
causing all the trouble. The black woman, allowed to dress and flaunt
about illures, tempts and often robs our domestic life of its sweetness,
while the black man, with the wrong conception of freedom, often makes
it impossible for our men to leave their homes unguarded." "Bah! away
with such nonsensical babbling! You are saying, Mrs. Bruce, that which
down in your innermost soul you do not believe. Such talk a